Porter looking for playing time for former platooners Presley, Guzman

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MINNEAPOLIS — Friday marked outfielder Alex Presley’s first time in an opposing dugout against the Twins since they let him go on waivers at the end of spring training, when the Astros were waiting to scoop him up.

Presley didn’t have a particularly lengthy run here, just 28 games played with the Twins last season, but he still has friends on the team.

“I don’t have a calendar, so I didn’t circle it,” Presley joked about this series. “You see it coming up and I mean, I’m not going to be like, ‘Oh I’m going to come — this is big revenge’ — I mean, that’s not how I am. It’s baseball, things happen. Players move around all the time. But, it’s definitely good to come back. I had a lot of fun here when I played.”

The Astros carried two platoons for most of the season, one in left field, where Presley has seen the most time, and one at first base. Now that Robbie Grossman is the everyday left fielder and Jon Singleton the every day first baseman, manager Bo Porter has to find ways to keep Presley, a lefthanded hitter, and Guzman, righthanded, involved.

“You look the other day, Presley got a start knowing that a lefty (pitcher) was going the next day,” Porter said. “If he didn’t play that day, now you’re looking at six, seven days without him playing. I’ll pick spots based on particular match-ups or who we have coming up.”

With the Astros heading to Arizona to play the Diamondbacks in a National League park following this weekend’s three-game set in Minnesota, Porter will need to use his bench more often.

“Obviously, going into the National League, Guzman becomes a very valuable piece,” Porter said.

In 137 plate appearances as a pinch hitter, Guzman has six home runs and a .336 on-base percentage. That’s one more home run than Guzman has in 326 plate appearances as a left fielder. Guzman and Presley are both good fastball hitters lifetime, although Presley hasn’t done as well as he has against heaters this year as in the past.